Bernie and Trump are wrong on Amazon

[TexasTowelie]

158. I did not address many of the topics that you mentioned

such as food stamps, minimum wage and Social Security because you strayed from the subject being raised in the OP.

I don't have any issues with the safety net programs and I believe that they should be more generous. I have direct experience with those programs since I'm indigent and classified as permanently disabled by the psychiatrist at the mental health clinic. I receive SNAP benefits, basic medical care, and prescriptions, but I was denied SSDI even though I was hospitalized twice in a four month period because I was suicidal. I jump through hoops every six months providing tons of paperwork (getting affidavits completed and notarized, having a neighbor verify my residency, etc.) to keep those benefits. I couldn't even get into the doctor this week even though I was bit by a cat on my shin and it swelled up as big as a tennis ball and has been ooziing pus the last four days.

Thus, when I see people advocate for new government programs my response is that we need to shore the programs that currently exist. While I was angry with the cut in corporate tax rates and allowing corporations to repatriate income from foreign countries those are topics that are best discussed in a separate thread.

Returning to topic of the OP, I agree that Amazon has used the tax code to its advantage. However, I doubt that there are many corporations that haven't done the same. They would not be meeting their fiduciary duty to their shareholders if they knowingly failed to do so. When Amazon acquired Whole Foods last year, the deal was reviewed for anti-trust violations and the Trump administration didn't have any objections. It is unlikely that would have happened under either an Obama or Clinton administration. Even if there was a Sanders administration that would challenge the merger, it isn't likely that it would stop the merger because anti-trust provisions have in the past focused on horizontal mergers that concentrate business such that a monopoly would be created. Most of the analysts that have more expertise on this topic also agree that the anti-trust provisions do not apply.

I get that you don't like big corporations and that you believe our economic system isn't fair. I'll agree that it isn't fair, but picking on Amazon because they developed a successful business model is punitive. It also sends a message to other corporations that even if they obey the law then Big Brother will interfere in the business. Nothing could discourage entrepreneurship, innovation and competitiveness more.

If you want to address Amazon, but if you are going to digress into minimum wage, foreign labor and every other issue under the sun, then save your time and address someone else because I'm quite familiar with those issues. Frankly, I don't think that there is anything else left to say.